Clothes-line reel.



W. E. PRATT CLOTHES LINE REEL.

APPL'ICAIIOII FILED APR-1.1914.

1,244,445. Patented 00a 23,1917.

WITNESSES l/VVENTDR gZ/{QW Walzlerf? Pram? I a M i 7 ATTORNEY UNITEDs'raans PATENT carton.

wAL rEn E.1?B.ATT, or BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, Assrenon TO 1). L.THORNBURY, or

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

CLOTHES-LINE REEL.

Patented Oct. 23, 1917.

Application filed April 7, 1914. Serial No. 830,276.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, WALTER E. PRATT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes- LlneReels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clothes line reels of the spring winding typeand has for its prlncipal object the construction of a neat compactdevice particularly adapted for indooruse.

Another object of my invention is to so construct the device that theparts may be readily formed of sheet metal stampings,

thus making a device which is light in weight and. cheap to construct.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the novelform, construction and arrangement of parts as herein described and asmore specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference should be had to the accompanying drawing. forming a part ofthis specification wherein,

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my improved device having aportion of the side plate and line drum broken away to disclose theinterior construction.

' Fig. 2 is a view in vertical section through the device showing theratchet teeth formed in the side plate of the drum, the spring pawl andmeans for holdin the actuating spring.

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal sectlon through the outer casing, theline drum being shown in plan.

Referring to the parts by corresponding numerals in the several views,my device consists of an outer casing having the side plates 1 and 2formed with lateral bent in tegral lugs 2" by which they are fastened toa. band 3, the ends of this band being turned at right angles to formfeet 4:, in which are screw holes 5 for attaching the device to itssupporting surface. The side plates are formed with square orrectangular holes in which is held a shaft 6 havmgthe side flattened asat 7 to hold the same against rotation. Rotatably mounted on this shaftis a drum or reel 8, which is formed of a circular band 8' to which isattached side plates 9 and 10 having suitable bosses engaging shaft 6.These plates are somewhat by a spring pawl 15.

larger in diameter than the band 8 thereby forming flanges adapted tohold the cable upon the reel: In attaching the band and side plates Iprefer to form ears 9 around the periphery of the band which are rivetedor screwed to the si'de plates.

In the shaft 6 is a projecting pin 11 to which is attached one end of aspiralspring 12, the other end being attached to a hook 13,'formed inthe band 8. This hook is formed by partly severing the metal in the bandand bending it inwardly. The side plate lO-is formed with a series. ofcircumferential ratchet teeth 14 stamped in the metal and which areadapted to be engaged Thus the complete reel isformed of sheet metal aswell as the pawl 15, which is formed by punching a long tongue from theside plate 10 and then bending this tongue to form a loop 15, whichserves as a handle and the end thereof serves to engage the ratchetteeth. The cable is denoted by 16, which on its inner end is attached tothe drum in any suitable manner, and which extends through a suitableopening in band 3 and exteriorly there-.

of is provided with a ring 17.

In use the device is attached to a wall or other supporting surface byscrews passing through the openings 5 and a hook providedv on theopposite side of the room over which. the ring'l'? may be placed. Thenwhen the latter'is pulled out the drum is rotated in the direction ofthe arrow which winds the spring 12. The pawl 15 entering the ratchetteeth 14: holds the cable against rewinding. When itis desired to windup the cable the pawl 15 is withdrawn by inserting the finger throughthe loop thereof and pullin the same outwardly. This allows the reel torevolve under the action of spring 12, thus wind up the cable.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a neat compact device whicheffectively accomplishes the object hereinbefore set forth and while Ihave shown the preferred embodiment of my invention it will beunderstood that I wish to cover all such modifications as are covered bythe scope of the claims I claim 1. A clothes line reel comprising asheet metal casin a non-rotatable shaft supported there y, a reelrotatably mounted on said shaft and ha ing one side wall prowithin saidreel and having the attached to the outer circumference of said 7 videdwith ratchet teeth, a spring connecting said shaftand said reel, and apawl strip integral with one Wall of the casing extending inwardly fromthe latter to cooperate with saidratchet teeth, said pawl strip havinga'loop portion whereby-the same may be manually disengaged from theratchet teeth..

2. A clothes line reel comprisinga-metallic casing 'formed of an edgestrip and side plates, a shaft held non-rotatively in said side plates,a reel revolubly mounted in said shaft, a spring attached to said shaftother end weenie reel, said reel comprising two thin metallic 5 circularside plates and a cylindrical ring connecting said circular side plates,ratchet teeth stamped in one of said side plates and a tongue out fromone of the casing side plates and bent to form a spring pawl 20 adaptedto engage said ratchet.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of 'two witnesses.

:WALTER E. PRATT. Witnesses: I

W. A. STOCK, R. M. OYABZO

